Movie Reviews

Best Elvis Documentary finally coming to DVD

Dean Wisland | Vernon Hills, Illinois USA | 05/21/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is Elvis is a Documentary that traces the life of Elvis from his early days in Tupelo and Memphis, his audition for Sam Phillips at Sun records, his first rush of fame, his early TV apperances, the contraversy over his performing style, his army years and his first meeting with Pricilla, his movie years, his 1968 comeback, his touring years in the 1970, up to his death in 1977. This is elvis combines actual footage of Elvis with reenactments with actors representating him at 11, 23, and 42 years old. It is narrated by Ral Donner, an Elvis impersonator who sounds excatly like him. Also other people in Elvis life, including former girlfreind Linda Tompson and road manager Joe Espisito, also provide narration.As noted in previous reviews, you do get to see upstairs at Graceland, as well as how it looked when Elvis died. Scenes from his early TV apperances, including the Milton Berle performance that caused a scandal as well as the "above the waist" performance on Ed Sullivan. Concert scenes from his 1968 show, Thats the way it is, Aloha from Hawaii, and from his last filmed show in 1977, are here as well. The 1977 show has never been on DVD, manily because Elvis was in bad health and it was just seven weeks before his death. Still he sings a good verison of My Way.This DVD set will include the original Theactral version from 1981, and the version that has been on VHS that had more footage. As noted in a review, Elvis does make some off color remark to his friends about a woman he had been with the night before, in the home verison, Ral Donner overdubed something less off color. Also the theatracial verson, in the 1977 concert, had the version of Are You Lonesome Tonight, where Elvis fouls up the spoken part of the song saying plus tax etc. In the home version, it is replaced with Love Me.Thanks to The Elvis Presley Estate for finally releasing this on DVD. It is a must for all Elvis fans, young and old."

True blue fans of Elvis Presley will enjoy this biography

Joe O'Brien | Virginia Beach, Virginia USA | 08/17/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first saw "This is Elvis" in the theatre when it first came out in the late summer of 1981.I decided to go see it after reading a several page layout about it in Rolling Stone and after watching "Siskel&Ebert" give the movie a good review on their show(back when they were on PBS).Gene Siskel said that even people who weren't fans of Elvis Presley may enjoy the movie. I've been a fan of Elvis for well over 20 years.Have more than 40 of his albums(on vinyl, not the CDs)some have even become collector items since then.I must say that I enjoyed this biography very much.Even went back to see again a couple of months later with some other family members.This was the first bio that was given the blessing of the Elvis Presley estate and certain members of the so called "Memphis Mafia" and Colonel Tom Parker were technical consultants on the picture.This was the first time anyone was permitted to film inside Graceland.This was a few years before it became open to the public.The film was produced by David L.Wolper(who produced the mini series "Roots") and directed by Andrew Solt and Malcolm Leo(who made documentaries on Marilyn Monroe,The Beach Boys, the very good theatrical bio "Imagine-John Lennon" from 1988,and "The Best of Ed Sullivan" specials for network television).The producers were allowed to use actual home movies and never before seen footage.

The highlights:Elvis' first TV appearances in 1956,scenes from his most popular movies,"Love Me Tender","Loving You" and "Jailhouse Rock", his first TV appearance after being discharged from the U.S.Army in 1960 on a Frank Sinatra special and newsreel footage from news conferences in 1960 and 1972.And,the home video version includes 45 min. of footage not seen in the theatre version.

The lowlights: the awkward dramatic recreations of Elvis'early life by various actors,and the narration(like it was from beyond the grave)by singer and Elvis' sound alike Ral Donner. And,narration by other actors portraying Elvis' mother,and Priscilla,etc.And,the sound quality isn't great because the video isn't in Dolby Stereo like it was in the theatre.And,the video version deleted two memorable scences from the original theatre version.One scene in the'70's where Elvis was riding with some of his buddies in a limo with a hidden camera on him.This scene was the reason the movie was rated PG instead of G.Another scene was a live performance in 1977 only two months before his death.

I've had this video since the late '80's on Beta(which I regret now because Beta is practically extinct,even though the picture quality is very good.It's become Super-Beta now and I hear TV news crews still prefer Super-Beta over Super-VHS).Some of my family and me took a 500 mile road trip to Memphis in 1996 to see Graceland.Spent 5 hours taking the entire tour.We enjoyed it very much.Warner Home Video released "This is Elvis" in a special edition 2 DVD set in 2007 in Dolby Digital and they restore the deleted scenes.I'm delighted.

And for Elvis fans a few things that have come to light since this bio.The singer Ral Donner(the narrator) wasn't and actual Elvis impersonator.Mr. Donner was a popular singer in the '50's and '60's. He met an untimely death back in the early '80's. Also,sadly the actor David Scott who portrayed Elvis as a teenager died from a suicide back in the early '90's. When Elvis died there were about 150 Elvis impersonators around. Today there is approx.250,000! Also,Elvis said in an interview that his favorite impersonator was the comedian Andy Kaufman.Elvis thought Kaufman did the best impression of him.And this from a bio in Reader's Digest,Elvis' hair was a sandy blonde and it turned prematurely gray(like his father's)so he had it dyed jet black and he kept it that way.Elvis's hairdresser said when Elvis was in his forties his hair was actually completely white.And,this from an interview with Elvis' lifelong friend and member of the "Memphis Mafia" Joe Espisito,he revealed that Elvis' had plastic surgery on his nose.Something Elvis kept secret.And, sometime after Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson in 1994 there was an earthquake in Memphis,about 5 on the Richter scale.They found out later it was just Elvis spinning in his grave.That was from Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. Thang ya.Thang ya verruh mush.(That isn't a typo, that's how you enunciate it)."

Thankyouthankyouverymuch Warner Bros!

Bryan | Missouri, USA | 08/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A must own DVD for every Elvis fan. I'm glad to see both versions are included. I first saw this on HBO in the early 80's when I was a kid and remembered almost all of it. I was surprised to find, years later, that they changed it for the VHS version.

The most notable changes between the 2 versions are: In the newer version there is, obviously, a lot more performance footage. But there is also a censored remark that Elvis made about a groupie during the 'Promised Land' montage. His voice is overdubbed by a guy that sounds like him saying 'she could raise the dead'. You can see the difference by playing the 80's version after watching the newer version. Also, the ending is different. In the older version, Elvis sings 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' and 'My Way' on the newer version they take out 'Lonesome' and replace it with 'Love Me' in which you get to see him do his whole scarf thing that he passes out to the screaming women in the audience. The change defeats the whole purpose of the thing - which is to watch it and feel sad at how much he's messing up "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" on stage(it is mentioned that the show was performed 6 weeks before he died). But the man can still sing, even during his weakened state. Strange how they edited his comment on stage: When he said "If you think I'm nervous... your right", on one version they cut to the crowd cheering and clapping yet on the other version, they show a quiet bewiledered audience. The kind where you would hear crickets chirping. That just doesn't make sense and it seeems like the editors wanted to make Elvis look even worse with the quiet audience.

The documentary ends with 'American Trilogy' and shows the funeral procession and then cuts to Elvis singing 'hush little baby don't you cry/you know your daddy's bound to die', a really sad moment. I don't see how anyone watching this cannot be affected by the last 10 minutes of this.

A must buy for Elvis fans or for fans who are not as familiar with his 25 year career. It covers pretty much everything as far as I can tell. You get to see backstage moments, car rides where Elvis doesn't realise there are mics in the car and they tell him, a montage of clips from his movies, his bodyguards releasing a tell-all book months before his death, karate classes, home movies, press conferences, and you get to see the upstairs area of the real Graceland during the first few minutes of the movie(an actor portrayed him walking up the stairs and into his room).

So if you like Elvis then you should definitely buy this. Reasonably priced and it has a lot of music from his entire career. The only bonus feature is a 9-minute video about Graceland by Joe Espisito but they barely go inside the mansion and instead talk about the horses, his cars, the raquetball court and other things on the property. It looks to maybe have been made in the late 70's or early 80's because it has that 'old video' look(as I call it). This DVD will remind you about what could've been if Elvis had done things differently and survived.

Elvis has left the building."

Must Have

MARK S. | ST.LOUIS, MO. | 06/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i am a 26 year old huge elvis fan and have to say this is the best Documentary of Elvis ever made along with a recreation of August 16 1977which gives you a real look at the UPSTAIRS of GRACELAND along wih ELVISES BEDROOM and BATHROOM in which he died you get to see the inside of GRACELAND with RED CARPET LINDA THOMPSON'S DECORATIONS.You also get to see a rare LIVE performance from the CBS special in June 1977 Elvis in Concert in which Elvis forgets the words to Are you lonsome tonight as heard on the CD. GREAT BUY JUST TO SEE UPSTAIRS OF GRACELAND AND BEFORE PRICILLA CAME IN AND CHANGED THE GRACELAND ELVIS LAST SAW."

EXCELLENT DOCUMENTARY!

2kisses&3scarfs | Long Island, NY, USA | 06/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was produced after Elvis died, so it includes footage taken from earlier productions, including "THAT'S THE WAY IT IS" and "ELVIS ON TOUR",and there's also some footage from "ELVIS IN CONCERT 1977". The bonus on this documentary is to see some of the upstairs and inside of Graceland, as it was when Elvis died- all in red. Also, there's lots of Elvis footage of home movies and karate demonstrations which are wonderful to see. This is a terrific production, and one that should be in every Elvis fan's collection. The original theatrical release, which is different from the home video version, is unedited and has Elvis talking with the boys, making some "off color" remarks. It's great!"